In this file photo, head coach Lisa Bluder of the Iowa Hawkeyes signs autographs for fans after the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Jan. 31, 2024 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
— PROVERBS 11:2
The teachers tying one on in the booth next to us were working up to Friday on a Thursday at Red’s in North Liberty. They howled and screeched. I could barely hear son Kieran and his wife Holly across the table.
Kieran pointed out that it was attracting attention from another table. With my Hawkeye Bar Vision glasses on I could see that none other than retired Coach Lisa Bluder was seated there.
Holy Herky, she is my hero. Star at Linn-Mar and UNI, coach at St. Ambrose, Drake and Iowa. Bluder helped make women’s hoops a national attraction while barely leaving the farm.
So I walked past her table and told her so.
That is the greatest thing about living in Iowa. You can do that at Red’s. You do not do that if you see Rick Pitino or John Calipari. But heck, Lisa Bluder seems so nice on TV I am sure she won’t mind if I tell her that I love her. She didn’t seem to. Her husband Dave stood up and shook my hand. Wow.
Ever the Iowan, Coach Bluder asked what I was doing in Iowa City. I told her I was seeing a doctor about some heart plumbing set for Feb. 19. A look came over her face and she expressed genuine concern, as anyone from Marion, Iowa, would.
Humility. She has it in spades. She puts others above herself.
That’s why she is regarded up there with Maury John in my mind. He was Iowa’s hero when Drake took on UCLA in the Final Four.
I urged her to run for governor. Everyone loves her and would vote for her. She could bring the state together. She laughed but was ever polite, as Fighting Bees from St. Ambrose are off-court.
She worked with all races and persuasions. It didn’t matter that this was Iowa, we could expect to be the best. You can have fun and be civil while shooting your way to the top. And when some gomer fan from Storm Lake interrupts your Thursday night, you entertain him.
You don’t win by demeaning others. She did not get dragged in to trash talk. Not one to get whistled for a T.
You lose when you gloat. Bluder would spend about an hour celebrating after a win before working up her next game plan.
She could manage a phenomenon like Caitlin Clark without anyone noticing.
We could use more leadership like that in Iowa.
Genuine.
If Tommy Tuberville can be a U.S. senator, well …
I can dream. Sometimes it can be a dream. Iowa normally is miserable in February. I am scared to death about someone shoving a stent up my arteries. There is Lisa Bluder to pop up and make me think I might be somebody.
It’s how Iowa can be. Should be.
There was a guy standing on the shoulder of the road at Marengo with a cardboard sign that read: “Go home, illegals.” Where does that come from? How did a Mexican ever put that guy down? What is so wrong with Iowa that would make him stand out there in the wind?
What is right with Iowa is that we can be so unassuming. It lifts you up as you leave the hospital parking ramp for home, and there the protester invades the windshield view. It’s such a pretty place, even on a brown winter day, the surgeon has a sure hand, and Lisa Bluder is cheering us on.
It makes you love Iowa even when you might want to hate it. It’s not the heat, it’s the humility. Marengo still could use some help. The folks at the Chelsea bar, with the only public restroom around, were priceless. As long as we can somehow stay grounded, we will survive.
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